Mpumalanga regulator invites new bookmaker applications

The move marks a regulatory milestone for the province.

South Africa.- The Mpumalanga Economic Regulator (MER) has announced an open call for interested parties to bid for 20 new bookmaker licences.

The regulator issued the Request for Proposals (RFP) notice on its website on April 11, 2025, outlining the evaluation process for bookmaker licence proposals.

As part of the licensing requirements, all operational functions of the prospective operator must be based in Mpumalanga. Applicants must also fulfil commitments to local economic development, including black ownership, job creation and compliance with B-BBEE regulations.

Operators will be required to pay a R5,000 (€233) application fee and a R25,000 (€1,168) investigation deposit per licence. The MER will only grant one licence per location or website, meaning operators with multiple brands must get a separate licence for each one.

Licensees will contribute 0.1% of their gross gaming revenue (GGR) to the National Responsible Gambling Programme and 1% of GGR to corporate social investment initiatives in Mpumalanga.

Potential applicants have until May 29, 2025, to request clarification on the RFP. The MER will then publish responses to all clarification requests when announcing the deadline for proposal submissions.

The call for licence applications marks a regulatory milestone for the sports betting industry in Mpumalanga. The last time new licences were issued in the province was in 2019. Since then, the prices of existing licences have become very high, even for inactive ones.

With the new development, new operators can expand into the market, leading to increased competition, improved services and better user experiences.